The Tungsten T is Palm's most compact device yet. But don't be fooled by its diminutive size. Inside, the new Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor (an enhanced ARM-based processor) gives you the performance you need to organize your work and your life. Stay productive when you're on the go with access to your essential Word, Excel, and PowerPoint-compatible files. Built-in Bluetooth technology allows you to access e-mail and connect to the Internet with the use of a Bluetooth-compatible mobile phone. On top of all this, the Tungsten T handheld has a new color screen, a built-in voice recorder, a five-way navigator button for one-hand operation, plus dual expansion for adding functionality so your Tungsten T handheld grows with you.

Display The Palm Tungsten T features high resolution on its 320 x 320 pixel backlit color display, which can display more than 65,000 colors.

Customer Rating: 4.16 of 5 (81 total reviews)

Nice but...

Ok let's break it down:

The good:

1) Very nice screen!!! One of the most vibrant I've seen on a palmpilot to date2) Nice and small, fits in any pocket rather well3) Fast! Brings up anything I need relatively quickly with a decent load time4) Bluetooth!!! Very handy way to expand externally via GPS devices and Cell phones, etc...

The bad:

1) Initial RAM is a bit skimpy at 16MB, prepare to shell out money for an expansion card as well. I blew through half of my built in memory in 2 weeks2) Non-replaceable batteries. What could I do if mine dies and can't recharge? Absolutely nothing...

In short, if you want an awesome PDA at a good price this is it! However I suspect that this PDA has a 3-4 year life at best with it's built in batteries (but I've seen Lithium Ion's last fairly long), and do be prepared to buy an expansion card initially.

Functional, but not quite perfect

I like my Tungsten T a lot and use it many times every day for basic appointment and phone book tasks. Several times a week I use it to review Word and Excel documents. Finally, I do play some card games on it when trying to kill 15 minutes here or there. The interface is easy to use and the screen is great. I like the 5-way button.

There are some areas that could use improvement, though. For starters, the Tungsten T is heavy for its size. On the one hand this gives it a feeling of durability. On the other hand it's really too heavy for a shirt or pants pocket. Also, the plastic cover that ships with the unit doesn't have cutouts for quick and easy access to all of the buttons on the bottom front. You can get there with the 5-way button, but it takes longer.

All told, I'm happy with the Tungsten T and would recommend it.

Good features but serious hardware bug

Background information first: I'm a health care provider, so I use the tungsten for inputting and modifying appointments several times per hour, 40+ hours a week. For me, the ease of inputting and accessing the address book, date book, and to-do's is the make it or break it factor. I upgraded from the Palm IIIC because even though it always served me without any problems, it was getting slow in searching for patients' names after 3 years of appointments built up in my datebook.

Good news second: The display is pretty and easily readable; the form factor is nice and small so I can just keep it in my pants pocket; it plays mp3's very nicely with a free download of the RealPlayer; the voice recorder activates at the press of a hardware button and comes in handy while driving; this PDA can sort through 3+ years of my appointments in no time flat.

Bad news third: Under serious usage, the digitizer becomes erratic and terribly frustrating. Where you place the stylus can be off by as much as several characters, first one way, then another, then back again, with no predictability. Unfortunately, you usually spot the error after writing in the wrong area, or worse, pasting instead of copying. It requires almost continual recalibration. It's clearly a hardware problem since tapping it on the side causes it to happen, but it's random and unpredictable. The result is a much slower inputting of data (and ample swearing).

Perhaps worse is that the support I have gotten from Palm has been very, very frustrating. They have replaced the tungsten with another return a couple different times, and the exact same bug was present in each machine. While the tech people adamantly deny a hardware problem, one of their engineers was upfront with me. He acknowledged the hardware problem, but unfortunately couldn't do anything beyond sending me another or advising me to briskly smack it open and shut several times.

Conclusion: If you don't demand too much of the digitizer, you'll probably be happy. If you get in any trouble and need tech support, you may be very unhappy with the company. Personally, since I like the Palm OS so much, I am about to purchase a Sony Clie.